The law of evidence governs what can be presented in court to support or undermine a case. Evidence must be relevant, material, and competent to be admissible. There are four main types of evidence: testimonial, documentary, factual, and demonstrative. The rules of evidence vary depending on the level of court and nature of the case, and evidence that has been compromised is inadmissible. Law enforcement officers must be familiar with the law of evidence to properly handle evidence.
The law of evidence is the body of law that concerns evidence. To successfully pursue a case in court—whether it’s a murder trial or a small claims litigation—evidence must be presented to support or undermine the case, depending on which side you’re arguing for. As a result, a number of laws have been developed to dictate what can be considered evidence, the types of circumstances in which evidence can be admitted, and what can make evidence inadmissible.
The rules of evidence, as they are known, are followed by the court in determining whether or not something can be entered as evidence. Evidence rules tend to vary, depending on the level of the court and the nature of the case. When representatives of both sides of a court case want to bring something into court as evidence, they have to show that it falls under the rules of evidence, and the other side can choose to contest the evidence.
There are four main types of evidence: testimonial, documentary, factual and demonstrative. Witness evidence is the form of evidence that many people are most familiar with, involving the testimony in court of someone who has information pertaining to the case. Documentary evidence takes the form of photographs, videos, written or audio documentation, introduced to allow people to examine the contents of the document. Real evidence is anything related to the crime, such as a murder weapon, while demonstrative evidence is evidence that is supposed to support or clarify factual information by demonstrating it. A map of a crime scene, for example, is demonstrative evidence.
According to the Evidence Act, for evidence to be admissible, it must be relevant, material, and competent. These rules are designed to exclude evidence that is unrelated to the crime, evidence that does not add to the case, or evidence that may be unreliable. The rules surrounding testimonial evidence can be particularly complex, addressing concerns such as hearsay and circumstantial evidence sometimes treading a fine line, according to the Evidence Act.
The Evidence Act is also designed to ensure that evidence that has been compromised is inadmissible. Tampering with evidence and other forms of manipulation, including the lack of a clear chain of custody for evidence, can result in evidence being deported out of court. For this reason, law enforcement officers must be familiar with the law of evidence, to ensure that they properly collect, maintain, handle and process evidence.
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